The Zuma moment: between tender-based capitalists and radical economic transformation

ABSTRACT

The Jacob Zuma Presidency (2009–2017) was dogged by persistent allegations of corruption and the looting of State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) by those allied to him. It led to allegations of state capture that placed the Gupta family at the centre of this project. These allegations have been highly contested, with Zuma supporters arguing that he has come under attack because of his support for the BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), which they hold challenges Western imperial interests. Alongside this are those aligned to the Gupta family, arguing that the real culprits of state capture, both historically and in contemporary South Africa, is White Monopoly Capital (WMC), through its ability to determine macro-economic policy. At the heart of this contest is what has come to be known as tender-based capitalists who sought to use access to SOE’s for the accumulation of capital. This process has been defended on the basis that it has the potential to lead a radical economic transformation (RET) that that can challenge the power of WMC. Others have held that this argument is a mere fig leaf for the looting of state coffers, eroding its capacity for deeper developmental initiatives and fostering a parasitic class. This article that focusses on this debate that entered the heart of the African National Congress (ANC) and threatened to tear it apart takes the form of a conjunctural analysis; conjuncture defined as an amalgam ‘of circumstances, a convergence of events, an intersection of contingencies and necessities, a complex, overdetermined state of affairs-usually producing a crisis, leading to breaking point, driving to historic crossroads’ (Mowitt 2015 Mowitt, John. 2015. “In The Conjuncture.” In Cultural Critique. Vol. 89, 125–127. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar], 125).     

Turkmenistan and the virtual politics of Eurasian energy: the case of the TAPI pipeline project

In December 2015, leaders from Central and South Asia took part in the ground-breaking ceremony for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline project. Sixteen months later, a confusing information flow continues to obfuscate external assessments of the project’s development: official rhetoric notwithstanding, there is no certainty on the details of project financing, while the pipeline route has yet to be determined. To illuminate this obscure implementation path, this article regards TAPI as a virtual pipeline, an infrastructure project that wields invaluable influence only when it is employed as a foreign policy tool or permeates domestic discourses of progress framed by the elites of the four consortium partners. The constituent elements of TAPI virtuality are discussed here through a dedicated focus on the process of energy policy-making of Turkmenistan – the sole supplier of gas for the pipeline project and the consortium’s key stakeholder.     

The Modern Meaning of Ancient Heroes：On the Emotion and Teaching in William Butler Yeats‘ On Baile’s Strand

Yeats’On Baile’s Strand is an important work in the Irish Literary Revival. On Baile’s Strand is a thought-provoking ethical tragedy, and also a play that reflects the ideology of cultural nationalism of Yeats. In this play there is staged development from natural emotion, free emotion to ethical emotion and moral emotion. Cuchulain is motivated by his natural emotion and free emotion in most cases. He fails to take the ethical responsibility as a husband, father and little king, which aroused the jealousy, revenge and incrimination from Aoife and Conchubar. After killing his own son who he has never seen, Cuchulain regains his ration. His ethical emotion and moral emotion makes it impossible for him to withstand his guilt, even though he fights bravely in hundreds of wars and has killed numerous people. Finally, he goes to madness, and throws himself into the sea to fight against the waves. With Cuchulain’s tragedy of filicide and madness in On Baile’s Strand, Yeats warns Irish people of improving their morality and education, so as to promote the Irish national independence and national liberation.     

吉林省粮食安全政策选择

2010年我国的粮食产量达到54 641万吨,增产2.9%。[1]尽管如此,我国的粮食安全问题仍然是十分重要的大问题,全球的粮食安全问题仍然很严重,粮价维稳已成为各国的头等大事,2010年全球玉米价格暴涨了52%,小麦上涨了49%,黄豆上涨了28%。[2]有些问题是自然灾害造成的,有些问题是人为造成的,这使全球经济陷入一种十分不稳定的状态。当今全球社会十分害怕粮食价格上涨,有些人把这些问题摆在与金融危机同一个位置上。     

自然文化化解文明冲突的功能浅析——以广西桂林临桂·2011国际湿地文化节为例

桂林临桂湿地文化属自然文化。自然文化是非物质文化的一种。利用好、发展好自然文化有利于推动社会文化的发展。对特定自然文化现象的内涵进行顺应时代要求的规定有利于不同文明之间的对话,利用好自然文化对文明冲突的化解,有利于构建和谐社会、和谐世界。     

刍议企业法人与国际移民法学的研究对象

随着世界政治、经济、文化的交融与发展,国际移民问题日益成为国际法学界关注的对象。鉴于国际移民法学的研究对象以往都局限于自然人的跨国流动,本文认为,国际移民法学的研究范畴还应扩大,应探讨将＂企业法人＂纳入国际移民法规范的对象之列。     

论技术标准在我国的反垄断法规制

技术标准是根据生产技术活动的经验和总结,作为技术上共同遵守的规则而制定的各项标准.在我国企业拥有自主知识产权数量有限,处于被他人技术标准控制的不利局面下,应以《反垄断法》第55条原则性规定为指导,出台实际操作性较强的具体规范指南,对技术标准在成员间关系、开放机制、对外许可等方面侧重进行反垄断审查.     

理性即自由:论斯宾诺莎的自然法观

斯宾诺莎是古典自然法学派的代表人物之一,他提出了“真观念”为认识的起点,再辅之以几何学的证明方式.斯宾诺莎认为上帝的法则就是自然规律.人是自然的一部分,所以人也要遵循自然规律,人的自然规律或者自然权利就是人努力保存自己,这是人的本性.斯宾诺莎从人性论出发,论述了在自然状态下,人的生活受到了被动情感的奴役,人们要通过理性来签订社会契约,建立国家来摆脱这种奴役,并对违约行为进行处罚.这种自由具备的伦理特征使得斯宾诺莎在古典自然法学家中的地位显得比较特殊.     

Green grabbing at the ‘pharm’ gate: rosy periwinkle production in southern Madagascar

The following article contrasts contemporary rosy periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) extraction in southern Madagascar with original bioprospecting research conducted 50 years ago. My study shows how plant extraction firms have shifted their approaches by creating new labor forms, which devolve risk and increase exploitation in attempts to capture the valuable biogenetic material needed for drug discovery. The periwinkle symbolizes a complex picture of many dynamic barriers to capitalist penetration at work, including the natural, social and political. Over time, these barriers change and act in conjunction to provide a complex commodity chain expressing many exploitative labor relations of green capitalism.     

行政垄断及其规制研究

充分而公正的市场竞争机制是市场经济健康发展的关键。行政垄断凭借行政权力分割市场,阻碍了全国统一、有序的竞争体系的形成,损害了竞争者和消费者的利益。鉴于行政垄断带来的极大危害,我们必须深刻认识并采取综合性的制度性策略,具体可通过完善市场运行法律以营造和谐竞争环境,完善现行《反垄断法》规定,进一步规范政府行为,并通过加强社会监督等方式来进行全面规制。